Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Of Gurus and Ustaads

The other dayI watcheda recordingof an oldprogramme onDDBharati, featuring Prakash Kaur, a noted Punjabi singer and the elder sister ofSurinder Kaur , another singing genius .Thesinger, when asked about thefirst remuneration she received as a professional singer,told thatit was an amount of Rs. Five and shehad given this to her Ustaad as an offering. The Ustaad ,obviously moved by this honour , in his turn , told every body about this .

Years ago, while in school, Iread a book – The Untold Story – by Lt.Gen. B .M . Kaul,in which , he had showered praise andexpressed his gratitudetoone of his teachers- himself making both ends meet with difficulty -forgiving him ahundred rupee note, signed by him, wishing him good luck. .

Both these incidents presentGurus or teachersorUstaads in full glowand glory.

In sharp contrast, is theincident of Eklavya , whom Dronacharya hadrefused to take as a disciple and, who by dint of sheer grit and determination himself practised and masteredarchery, keeping alongside asmall statue of Dronacharya , made of straw treating and revering it as a Guru.

It is common knowledge that seeingin Eklavya , apossible threat to number one position that his favourite disciple Arjun enjoyed in archery,Dronacharya had demanded Eklavya’s thumb as guru dakshinaandthe latter had obliged . Again the same Dronacharya , taking sides with the Kauravas had fought against the Pandavas , in the Mahabharatwar.

@A ...... and how Lord Krishna tactfully or rather by deceit got from Karan his kavach-kundal . Despite Krishna being Arjun's charioteer, Karan gave tough fight. Even Krishna had admitted that Karan was a better and superior warrior than Arjun.

Dronacharya was not Guru he was tutor. He did not have his gurukul he came to Bharatvanshi king to have money and they made him agree to become tutor. A tutor does not have any choice but to follow the masters orders. Biggest fault of Dronacharya was this that is to accept the offer. So we cannot compare him to Gurus. द्रोण को गुरू कहना भी गुरूओं का अपमान है।

@ Akhilesh Bharti :Yes, Bharti ji, you are right in making this distinction between a tutor and a Guru.. But then this is how he is referred to every where - Guru Dron. We have even a place called Dron- nagar , named after him. As already said, his is not an example to emulate, whatever the limitations. Certain questions will remain unanswered . Let things rest at that .

I wrote this last year. Hope you like it.http://nextking.wordpress.com/category/poems/

I gifted him my talent divine,And lost the gift fine.They lauded my sacrifice supreme;Ignoring my pain and screams.My brave facade is peeling off;I ask for comfort from my bed of rocks.Did I make a mistake?And did I saw a smirk on his favorites face.I am the man who could had been a King;They robbed me and clipped my wings.Today, the world talks of me with passion,As the man who gifted this world the greatest lesson.I regret each time I see a fine bow;My heart weeps but it doesn’t show.